I'm pregnant, should I have the Covid-19 vaccine?
Written by Senior NHS Midwife, Hannah O’Sullivan unpicks some of the confusion around the Covid-19 vaccine and pregnancy.
There is a lot written online about the Covid-19 vaccine and pregnancy, and some of it might make for anxiety-inducing or confusing reading. I hope this post helps to break down some of the confusion and help you make an informed decision about whether to have the Covid-19 vaccine if you’re pregnant. As Covid-19 is a fast changing situation it’s always important to check the most up to date guidance and advice with your GP or healthcare professional.
At the time of writing, the UK’s Chief Midwife is urging pregnant women and people to get the vaccine. She’s written to all midwives and doctors to tell them to do the same. Here are some figures which make for important reading:
Of the pregnant women/people who have been admitted to hospital with Covid-19, none have had both doses of the vaccine.
98% of the pregnant women/people who have been admitted to hospital with Covid-19 have no had any doses of the vaccine. The other 2% have had one dose.
Data collected by UK Obstetric Surveillence System (UKOSS) show that rates of Covid-19 infection are increasing in pregnant women and people.
In July 2021 one in seven pregnant women/people admitted to hospital with Covid-19 infection have required transfer to an Intensive Care Unit.
One in five pregnant women/people admitted with serious Covid-19 infection went on to give birth prematurely, and the likelihood of caesarean birth doubled.
One in five babies born to mother/gestative parents with serious Covid-19 infection required admission to the Neonatal Unit.
I am not telling you these figures to frighten you. If you have found this blog through searching for information and advice, you are probably already feeling fairly anxious whenever you think about Covid-19 and about vaccination.
As a midwife, and a mother of two young children, I feel that fear too. Late at night those intrusive thoughts can come to us all, and Covid is one more block in the tower of fears we have for the safety of our precious babies. I am telling you this because it is true. I am telling you this because I want fact, and evidence to speak to you more loudly than fear mongering, I want you to hear me, with my degree and experience and my role as a Specialist Pubic Health Midwife, over someone who has an opinion about vaccines that is unsubstantiated and unevidenced, but who shouts really loudly on social media.
Pregnancy is such a vital time for evidence-based care and advice. Make an informed choice, and ensure that information is accurate.
The facts are this:
Vaccinations save lives
Hundreds of thousands of pregnant women/people have been vaccinated against Covid-19 across the world, safely and effectively protecting themselves and their babies.
The Covid-19 vaccine contains no ingredients that are harmful in pregnancy.
The vaccines work by using synthetic mRNA spike proteins that mimic the spike proteins of Covid-19. Your immune system then learns to fight them, and if you are exposed to actual Covid-19 your immune system is ready to go. The mRNA vaccine causes a very similar immune reaction as if you actually had the virus itself. So clever!
The synthetic spike proteins only last in your body up to a few weeks. SO although there are no long-term studies, many thousands of well babies have been born to vaccinated parents.
There is no evidence that the vaccine crosses the placenta, however the antibodies will. There have not been studies on this published yet, but we can expect some protection to be passed to your baby, in the same way that happens in Pertussis and flu vaccinations (read about those here). There will also be Covid-19 antibodies in your breastmilk. No vaccine proteins have been found in breastmilk.
I know that there will be some of you, maybe many, who think ‘this is too new, I don’t want to risk a new vaccine’. And I understand that. But I want you to think about this, before you decide no for certain; If you are unlucky enough to catch Covid-19 and require treatment, will you accept the medicines that you are offered by the medical staff or would you refuse treatment? Over 100 drugs have been identified to be repurposed to treat Covid-19 infection. They are not medicines that are routinely used in pregnancy. Would you take them to get better?
There is a lot of noise about vaccination - it’s not new, but around Covid-19, and with social media beaming any old opinion into your brain, it has certainly got louder. That noise and chatter is rarely the same about medications used in hospitals to save lives. Yet vaccines DO save lives (Smallpox was wiped out by a worldwide immunisation programme).
If you would accept life-saving medication when you got ill, but do not think you want a life saving vaccine, which not only protects you, but also those around you and significantly reduces the chance of premature birth as a result of severe infection, then I suggest that you take a little time to think about why that is.
Talk to your midwife, to your GP. Follow the links below and read the evidence. And then make your informed choice that is right for you and your family.
Here are some links to evidence-based, trusted sources to read more:
Royal College of Obstetrics & Gynaecology Covid-19 Vaccination Decision Making Aid
Royal College of Midwives Fact sheet Covid-19 Vaccination in Pregnancy
Written by Senior NHS Midwife, Hannah O’Sullivan
Get more advice about pregnancy in Hannah’s General Health In Pregnancy workshop in the Pregnancy Pack.